Joel Quenneville, Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac have been reinstated by the NHL, the league announced Monday amid a flurry signings on the opening day of free agency.
The former Blackhawks executives and NHL coach had been banned from the NHL for their handling of sexual assault allegations by former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach against the team’s video coach Brad Aldrich during the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup run in 2010.
The three have been away from the league since 2022, but they’re now eligible to seek employment “effective immediately” and are eligible to be hired by a team as early as July 10.
“While it is clear that, at the time, their responses were unacceptable, each of these three individuals (Messrs. Bowman, MacIsaac and Quenneville) has acknowledged that and used his time away from the game to engage in activities which, not only demonstrate sincere remorse for what happened, but also evidence greater awareness of the responsibilities that all NHL personnel have, particularly personnel who are in positions of leadership,” the NHL said in a statement.
“Moreover, each has made significant strides in personal improvement by participating in myriad programs, many of which focused on the imperative of responding in effective and meaningful ways to address alleged acts of abuse. The League expects that they will continue this commitment in any future capacity with the NHL and/or one of our Clubs.”
Quenneville had been the head coach of the Panthers and resigned in October 2021 when the details of the Blackhawks’ mishandling of the sexual assault allegations came to light.
Quenneville was the coach of the Blackhawks at the time of the alleged abuse.
Bowman resigned from his position as general manager of the Blackhawks in October 2021 and Al MacIsaac was the team’s senior vice president of hockey operations.
An independent investigation into the matter by the law firm Jenner & Block found that the Blackhawks’ management had met and opted not to deal with the incident until after the postseason run and ultimately gave Aldrich the option to resign or be terminated.
Quenneville claimed that he wasn’t aware of the allegations, but the report indicated that he was in the meeting where management decided to wait to take action over the allegations.
In an interview with TSN, Beach said that “there’s absolutely no way (Quenneville) can deny” knowledge about the incident.
It may not take too long for the former Blackhawks exec to find a job.
According to Daily Faceoff, Bowman is the front-runner for the vacant general manager job with the Oilers.